Python projects must always be developed in isolated environments or virtual environment so that all our dependencies are locked to that single project only.
requirements.txt
in Python is package.json
of NodeJS
It contains all the packages required for running the python project.
Lets see how we can create a virtual environment in Python and generate a requirements.txt
file
Creating & Managing Virtual Environment
Install
virtualenv
is a tool to create isolated environment in Python. Install this tool using apt-get
fire the following command on bash terminal
$ sudo apt-get install python3-venv
Initialize
traverse to the project folder and run the following command
$ virtualenv venv
this creates a copy of Python in whichever directory you ran the command in, placing it in a folder named venv
Activate
to begin using the virtual environment, it needs to be activated using the following command
$ source venv/bin/activate
install any new modules without affecting system default Python or other virtual environments using pip/pip3
$ pip3 install numpy scipy matplotlib
these packages will be installed in the project folder only under venv
folder
now we can generate requirements.txt
using following command
$ pip3 freeze --local > requirements.txt
--local
argument ensures only virtual environment packages are written to requirements.txt
Deactivate
once your work is completed you stop the virtual environment
$ deactivate
Delete
There might be a case where you want to remove the virtual environment. You can simple do this my deleting the venv
folder.
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